Gun Phobia

It’s Change of Venue Friday, and I considered a variety of material to offer on our off-kilter weekday. Finally, though, I thought I would bring you some cutting-edge material from the field of mental illness.

In its “Live Talk Forum,” the Arizona Republic sits down with newsmakers, tosses softballs, asks the hard questions, and reveals something new to illuminate the news.

It’s a small column in the paper, and I was worried you may have missed this week’s. It was with gun advocate/expert Alan Korwin. He wrote “The Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide.”

It’s worth reading the entire exchange. But steer your attention to his response to question number 2.

2. What would you anticipate would be the biggest objections from opponents to allowing any person with a valid concealed firearm carrying permit or license to carry a concealed firearm?

Many of the anti-rights positions stem from hoplophobia, morbid fear of weapons, a medical condition whose undiagnosed sufferers need treatment. Unfortunately, they often get involved in efforts to deny the civil rights of others instead of seeking help for themselves. They fail to distinguish between legitimate gun ownership and use, and homicidal maniacs and crime, indicative of their problem.

Whatever you may think of Korwin’s underlying positions on gun ownership, we all can learn a lesson here about argument and persuasion.